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Transmitting Culture through Motion: A Visual Reinterpretation of the Hanuman Chalisa via Temple Carving-Inspired Stop-Motion Animation

My Role: Researcher, Pre-Production Designer & Animator
Directed by: Prof. Swati Agarwal, IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay
Status: Official Festival Screenings

🔒 Due to NDA and copyright constraints, only a limited overview of this project is shared to respect confidentiality.

Project Overview

From childhood to adulthood, many of us have grown up listening to the Hanuman Chalisa. In our minds, we imagine Hanuman dancing, flying to Lanka, and performing heroic acts—shaped by the rhythm and visuals in our imagination. But beyond these vivid images lies a rich layer of symbolism, wisdom, and life lessons often overlooked.

With this stop-motion animation, we aimed to reimagine and reconstruct the mental model many carry about the Chalisa—bringing out its deeper meanings while keeping it engaging for younger audiences. I believe this film offers children and today’s generation a fresh perspective: one that combines entertainment with spiritual insight.

This 5-minute animated film invites viewers to watch from two points of view:
1. One, as a delightful mythological story full of energy and devotion
2. And two, as a learning experience filled with hidden messages about strength, humility, and inner faith

Using handcrafted clay animation and guided by the creative vision of Prof. Swati Agarwal, with music composed by Mr. Sudeep Shrivastava, the film transforms an ancient chant into a modern, emotionally resonant experience for children aged 4 to 12.

Current Achievements

My Contribution

  • Conducted cultural and narrative research into the Hanuman Chalisa, drawing insights from My Hanuman Chalisa by Devdutt Pattanaik.

  • Designed the pre-production framework, including song breakdown, mood analysis, storyboarding, and sequence planning.

  • Acted as the lead animator, working in a small team to build the film’s visuals using clay stop-motion techniques and real-time model manipulation.

Narrative Structure & Song Breakdown To translate the Chalisa visually, we:

  • Broke it into musical moods and thematic chapters

  • Identified key actions and events from Hanuman’s life (leaping, burning Lanka, devotion to Ram)

  • Structured the transitions based on rhythmic cues and lyrical meaning

Concept & Visual Style

  • Concept: A Hanuman sculpture comes to life, leaping across ancient temple walls and carvings that narrate his divine acts.

  • Visuals drew inspiration from Indian temple architecture and mural traditions, simplified to be sculpted in clay.

  • The tone was kept mystical yet accessible for children through bold forms and soft color palettes.

Pre-production & Storyboarding

  • Mapped out the entire script breakdown on a wall using sticky note thumbnails, allowing the team to see macro and micro flow.

  • Created a modular storyboard to track progress across 9 distinct sequences, aligning with video cut points and music shifts.

  • Iterated rapidly using physical sketching and stop-motion camera tests. Almost cover 10+ animatics.

Takeaway & Impact

This film allowed me to merge traditional Indian storytelling with modern animation design, deeply understanding how cultural content can be reshaped for younger audiences. It also sharpened my workflow design, visual thinking, and collaborative prototyping skills in a high-stakes academic setup.

Behind the Scene

I am thrilled to collaborate with the finest animators and design professors, and I take pride in being a part of this team.